TREMENDOUS trade was once again achieved at Skipton Auction Mart’s latest rearing calf show, when the overall champion, a British Blue bull-cross calf from Church Farm Enterprises, sold for a price-topping £680.

The 31-day-old title winner from father and son, Fred and Mark Houseman, of Burton Top Farm, Burton Leonard, was among the first crop of calves they offered by sale by the Genus sire, Umpire, out of a proven dairy cow.

The buyer was CE Smith, of Grimsby.

The 2013 Craven Cattle Marts Farmers of the Year consigned 11 calves in total, all of them prize winners and all selling away well, with another bull calf, runner-up in its show class, making £650 when again joining Mr Smith.

Church Farm Enterprises also presented the top price £270 Aberdeen Angus-cross bull calf and the top price black and white bull calf at £195.

Show judge Joe Ogden, of Cowling, stayed with the Blues for his reserve champion, the first prize heifer, from Ian and Diane Wellock, of Kirkby Malham. Shown by Ian’s father, Brian, the calf became a further CE Smith acquisition at £600.

Multiple past champions, the Sowray family, from Bishop Thornton, were among the rosettes with British Blue-cross entries, including landing third prizes in both the bull and heifer calf show classes.

The bull was another acquisition by Mr Smith at £660 - he bought 12 calves in total - while the heifer made £460 when joining the Abbott brothers in Dacre.

Trade was very strong for the 79 calves forward, notably so for British Blues, with 11 bull calves selling above £550 and seven heifers making £400 or more. The overall Continental-cross selling average was £479.22 per head.

Black and white bulls and native breeds continued to sell well, producing respective section averages of £108 and £143.85 per head.

Elsewhere, at Skipton’s Monday market, the 2,303 prime sheep forward included an entry of 599 spring lambs, which sold to an overall average of £80.57 per head or 195.2p/kg, with 1,232 prime hoggs averaging £71.07 per head, or 165.5p/kg.

Cast ewes, 454 in number, averaged £79.82 per head, while 18 cast rams averaged £111.50 each.

Trade for the 514 head of breeding sheep, among them 202 females with 306 lambs at foot, was quite a bit sharper on the week, with additional customers looking for sheep late in the season. They sold to a high of £220 per outfit for Mule shearlings with twin lambs.

In the prime cattle section, a total of 43 cast cattle averaged £743.41 per head, or 117.94p/kg.